Somewhere in the brush of the deep abandoned woods,
sat an aged rustic two-story home with broken windows
and chipped white paint.
Old green cracked shutters hung from their hinges,
creaking in the wind.
A young teenage gaunt brunette with flowing long hair and red ruby lips
had come upon this finding, buried deep within the aged woods.
She stared at the old architecture in all of its despair
through tear-stained emerald-green eyes.
It was here, in this lonely spot,
she had stopped.
Not lost, but yet, not at home.
For she had run away from a harsh-stricken
and reality-driven world that had lost
its child-like wonder so many years ago.
She needed to gather strength from her energy-starved legs
that were now tired and sweating underneath her black torn tights.
Her feet were swollen in red mary jane flats
and the bottom of her white school uniform dress was torn and dusty.
For now, she would stay here, deep within the abandoned woods.
With a brightly lit half-moon lighting the way
through the home’s dark cemented path,
she approached the old two-story building
and pushed open the red front door.
Its groan echoed throughout the woods,
making her heart skip a beat.
Inside, the wooden floorboards creaked,
and frayed curtains hung sadly from the windows.
A chilled air enveloped the atmosphere,
sending shivers down the young girl’s spine.
Wrinkled and stained white cloths draped over
the worn furniture from long ago.
An old red round coffee table with a broken leg
sat in the middle of the front room.
Two empty smudged wine-glasses sat on top,
remnants of a possible celebration from so many times ago.
The teenage girl shivered in the cold damp air,
as her eyes scanned the darkness,
searching for something to keep her warm.
An old brown knitted afghan lay across one of the pieces of furniture.
She picked it up, wrapping it around her, even though
it smelled of mildew and dirt.
At this point, it was better than the chill
that kept stealing her breath.
Weary and tired, she kicked off the red Mary-Janes,
to try to sleep away the pain that had settled in her heart.
For now, she had no home, as everything in her world,
had broken apart.
Curled up in the old musty brown afghan, she closed her eyes
and searched for comfort in the lonely old house.
Her young innocent eyes twitched as her breath began to steady.
Sleep-deprived, she fell into slumber quickly.
In this home, deep within the abandoned woods,
was yet, an entity that had been long forgotten,
haunting the old two-story home.
He spied the innocent teenage girl.
Finally, after too many lonely years,
There was a visitor to entertain.
Floating to the small gaunt body that lay asleep on the couch,
his gnarly fingers and black nails reached out to smooth her brunette hair,
Humming an old movie-like tune,
his red ghoulish eyes closed for a moment
as he leaned down to kiss her soft rosy cheek…
A blood-curdling shriek echoed out through the abandoned woods.
The girl’s emerald-green eyes widened in horror.
Tears began to fall, and she shook with trembling fear.
The entity reached out for her cold pale-white hand,
as she stood, frozen in terror.
It had been a mistake, to stop at this old rustic home
with its broken green shutters.
He smiled a toothless grin,
as green saliva dripped from his mouth.
She tried to run,
but his presence had her frozen in a trance,
as her bare feet were glued to the old wooden floor.
The schoolgirl’s aching broken heart began to flutter,
her body weak from energy and starved from food.
She grew light-headed.
The fear was just too much for her restless spirit.
The entity began to hum a haunting movie-like tune,
a black smog filtering out from his toothless mouth.
The smog wrapped itself around the girl, enveloping her soul.
She fainted restlessly to the floor.
Soon her pain would be never-more.
Darkness crept into her emerald-green eyes,
stealing their beauty in all of its despise.
Instead, they became a rich ruby-red,
like those of her Mary-Janes.
Once luscious brunette flowing hair,
now became a shiny jet-black.
Red ruby lips,
now pale and deathly pink.
No longer did she carry innocence
The horrid transformation
Gave her a whole new layer.
Her heart grew stone cold,
from a reality-stricken world.
And now,
she had lost her child-like wonder,
Lost within the shadows,
beneath the dirt
of the creaky wooden floor,
in a rustic old two-story home,
deep within the abandoned woods.
-Ariana R. Cherry
Like my poems? Follow me on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Lil-Rural-Freelance-Writer/311812734446
Ariana R. Cherry: Poet & Artist 